If you’ve ever watched guests at a wedding dance, this might surprise you, but evidently the inability to recognize (and follow) a musical beat is very rare. In fact, researchers have only just documented the first official case of “beat deafness,” according to Science News.

A test subject named Mathieu was unable to tap his feet or move in time to a beat-heavy, Latin dance tune called Sauvemente. He could imitate someone next to him, tapping his foot, but when the person stopped he was once again left “flail[ing] in a time zone of his own.” (He was one of several people to respond to a general call for test subjects who thought they couldn’t keep track of musical time, but only he qualified.) …

Biographies

Gary Rosen is the editor of Review and the former managing editor of Commentary magazine. His articles and reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He is the author of "American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding" and the editor of "The Right War? The Conservative Debate on Iraq."